Coupling and entraining device forming alpha speed regulator



May 4 192s. 1,583,628

M. VULLIERME 4 COUPLING AND ENTRAINING DEVICE FORMING A SPEED REGULATOR Filed August 31 1922 2 Sheets-Shut 1 May 4 1926.

M. VULLIERME COUPLING AND ENTRAINING DEVICE FORMING A SPEED REGULATOR Filed August 31 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Arrogusva.

' Patented May 4, 1926.

UNITED sTA MARCEL VULL'IERM'E, 0E VELiZY-VILLAGOUZBLAY, F ANCE;

001m AND ENTRAINING DEVICE FORMING A SPEED REGU ATOR.-

Application filed. August 31, 1922. Serial No. 585,489.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARonLfVUIjuERMEf a citizen of France, anda resident of Velizy- Villacoublay, Seine-et-Oise, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Coupling and Entraining Devices Forming.

Speed Regulators, which is fully set forth in the following specification.

In an engine in which the curve of the C torque has the period (is being the frequency) a flywheel is required in order to regularize the torque transmitted to the actuated device. The

flywheel absorbs energy, when the torque is greater than the resistance couple, by in? creasing its speed, and it:restores this energy when the torque fallsbelow the resistance couple, thus diminishing speed. The energy stored up by the fflywheel 1s equal to A=Iw -(e -e I being the moment of inertia of the flywheehand com the mean angular speed, oi ando being-respectively the maximum and 'minimum speeds; The

speed variation' ;isproportional to the workto'beabsorbed and inversely proportional to the inert a ofthe flywheel, that is, it depends upon its variations will increase,

mass. Should the dthe parts having a rotary motion, the speed will be inversely proportional to their mass.

The actuated device will follow these varia- U tionsif it has asmall inertia, should it have and to the, accelerations, and

a large inertia, its speed .will be substantially constant, and the speed variations of the engine will cause accelerations whose re-' sultant forces, proportional to the masses having short periods, will in the case of rigid coupling give rise to additional stresses in the transmission elements such as piston rods, crankshaft, coupling, and hub of the propeller.

These forces, whose period is for example 1/120 second, for an internal combustionengineiof the 8 -cylinder typerotating at 1800- revolutions per minute, will changegin direction every 1/240 second, andin the case Qof the connection between the propeller and flywheel be reduced to and the amplitude its support this may occasion the slipping ofthe'propeller hub uponits clamping discs, which will 'damp'en'thQSPeed variations but will absorb work; This loss of inertia is'manifested by a .riseof temperature due to the low conductivity of the wood and the deterioration of-the-hub and the fastening bolts.

If insteadof the rigid coupling between the engine and the actuated device, use is made of an intermediate element containing gear wheels, the latter willbe submitted to forces of acceleration of a givenperiorland amplitude. Since the gear wheel which is lreyed to the actuated devicehavinga large inertia has practically. no speedl'variations, the gear teeth will be subjectto a very considerable hammering, and if the/play be tween the teeth is smaller than the space which the freely. oscillating engine device tends-t0 cover, this rapid hammering will occur alternately upon each side of the teeth and will cause the rapidwear of the same. [The present invention relates to a speedregulating coupling which obviates; these drawbacks, admitting the free variation of the 'engine'speed. According to the' i'nv'en- .'tion,the couplin'gbetween the driving shaft whose speed is instantaneously variable and the driving shaftat constant speed '(or' vice versa) is eife'cted through the' intermediary which is not sufficiently tight,

device with multiple 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the Fig. 2 is a like TESQPATENT Fig. 3 a like view representlng' the entrain,

-ing devices with multiple keys. Fig. 4 is a half-crossesection of a form ofconstruction of a coupling device according the invention,.and Fig.5 is an axial section of said device. I i

The principle of the vi111schema isishown as a pivot.

Y of the driving couple, the mass will in all.

diagrammatically in Fig. 1. A mass M is secured to the end of a lever arm L whereof the other end is pivoted at A to a disc B. If the whole device rotates at a speed in, the mass will have a centrifugal force F proportional to a and equal to 712MB, wherein R is the distance between the mass and the centre of rotation. Should a force F be exerted upon themass M, thelatter will be inclined in the direction of the force .F but the radial centrifugal force, by reason of the inclination of lever arm L to the radius, will give risev to. a couple, and themass M will continue to incline until it affords a lever arm a whereof the couple F a equilibrates the force 1%, wherein b is the lever arm of the force F having A" It may be supposed that the force F is produced by a driving shaft and, that the mass M slides loosely in a cylindrical recess provided in a ring surrounding the disc L,

said ring being rotated directly by the engine.

When the force F varies, for example during a momentary failure of the engine, the mass M will swing in orderrto afford a lever arm producing a couple which equilibrates that of the new tangential force.

.During the rapid variations which are caused by the successive positive and negatlvie acceleratlons due to speed variatlons cases bear against the force F and will thus eliminate] the shocks occasioned by these rapid alternations. In-fact, when the acceleration is positive, FF increases, andthe mass M will descend in'its recess in order to increase the couple, as is necessary for the equilibrium. Should F F decrease on account of a negative acceleration, the mass will now rise, but without losing contact with the force F, since the componentv of the centrifugal acceleration for the speeds under consideration is greater than the negative acceleration produced by the enb This principle has been applied to the construction of the regulator which sented diagrammatically in Fig. 2.

An outer drum A which is key-ed to the end of the engine crankshaft carries on the periphery various cylinders co-operating with the pistons P constituting masses. Said pistons are connected by the rods L, ending in ballbearing parts, with a disc B mounted on the intermediate shaft driving the pro- I their end positions.

peller. The drum' A provides for the actuf ating of the masses and produces the tangential force. The masses are calculated so as to balance the driving couple at the minimum speed, and a stop-piece determines The amplitude of the oscillation may be such that the couple shall vary from its positive maximum to a negative'couple of equal value, this variation takis repre.

ing place by passing through a couple of zero-value, that is, without shock.

This provides for a speed-regulating coupling which admits all variations in the instantaneous speed of the engine, and transmits, without shocks, a constant speed to an actuated device having a great inertia. The construction of the device represents at the same time the Oldham joint by the relative displacement of the outer and inner rings, and the Gardan joint by the use of the ballsocket joints of the rods which. admit an angle between the axes of'the engine and the actuated device.

A practical form of construction of the regulator, which is particularly applicable to an aviation engine, is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In the actuating drum 0 which. is mounted on the crankshaft 0 Fig. 5, are provided the recesses .or cylinders for the pistons cl, Fig. 4, connected by a'rod 6 with the ring 7 secured to the hub of the propeller 7, Fig. 5, and whereof the speed of rotation is substantially constant. The rods 0 are connected by ball-ancl-socket joints at one end 0 to piston (Z and at the other end at e to the ring 7. A convex washer g secured to the piston comes into contact with the face 9 of the cylinders provided in the drum 0 in order 'to limit the inward stroke of the pistons. V

The said regulator serves to reducev in an engine the volume of the elements having a rotary motion and to give to the latter the minimum size required by the stresses to be supported which are now reduced inasmuch as the inertia of the whole device is diminished. This will accordingly increase the speed, power and plant efficiency of the engine. The said regulator also provides for the use of aviation engines having a smaller number of cylinders than the known engines, and such engines with reduced number of cylinders will have speed variations whose amplitude is greater as the number of cylin- 11 ders becomes smaller andasthe parts in rotation have a smaller mass, for example, en-

gines with radial cylinders.

The forcesof acceleration are such as to produce considerable additionalstresses, and

in spite of the rigid mounting of the engine on the propeller, there is produced a slipping of the latter upon its h'oldingdevices which causes a rapid deterioration of the hub. These drawbacks are obviated by the the principle of the regulator to the construction of an entraining device with multiple-keys while preventing all play. An outer ring A which receives the movement, is provided with the circular grooves i.

The rods 7' are bent at a right angle, and one M; the other end engages a socket 70 inserted I into the circular groove 2' of the ring A The elbow of said rod j is in each case piv-'-- oted by the axle 7' to an actuated disc Z.

The operation of said device is as follows: The outer ring A is actuated in the sense of the arrow Z Fig. 3. The masses are calculated so as to obtain the equilibrium at the minimum speed. The variations in speed of the ring A are free, and inasmuch'as the components of the centrifugal accelerations on the masses M are greater than the variations in tangential acceleration which act upon the other arm of said rods 9', the wheel Z is always drawn in' the sense of the arrow Z Fig. 3, and therefore the wheel Z will in all cases bear upon the same faces of the 'ear wheels with which it is for example enthose points.

Eaged. This will eliminate the jarring at the gear teeth and the consequent wear at Obviously, the said device may be modified in detail without departing from the principle of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A speed-regulating coupling connecting two shafts, comprising an external ring connected with one of said shafts, an internal ring connected with the other of said shafts, heavy masses slidable radially in said external ring by centrifugal force, and links havingpivotal connections with said masses and with said internal ring.

driving shaft,

2. In a speed-regulating coupling for connecting a driving shaft having an instantaneously variable speed with a shaft having a constant speed, the combination with said dially disposed piston cylinders, pistons in said cylinders constituting inertia elements, and rods connecting with said ing jointed connections with said driven shaft whereby said inertia elements under relative angular displacement of said shafts automatically maintain constant speed in said driven shaft.

3. In a speed-regulating coupling as defined in claim 2, wherein means are provided for limiting the down strokes of said pis tons.

4. In a speed-regulating coupling for con necting a driving shaft having instantaneouslyvariable speeds with a shaft having constant speed, the combination of a driving shaft provided with a drum having radial piston cylinders, pistons in said cylinders, rods having ball and socket connections with said pistons and having flexible connections with said driven shaft, abutments on said pistons to limit-their downward strokes, said pistons constituting inertia elements for of a drum provided with ra elements havtransmitting constant speed to said driven shaft.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

MARGEL VULLIERME. 

